What is Bamboo?

Different species of bamboo, members of the grass family, are native to diverse climates around the world—from sub-Saharan Africa to northern Australia and from southeastern North America through much of South America. Bamboo also grows profusely throughout most of Asia.

Bamboo is especially notable for its strength, hardness, and rate of growth. Bamboo has greater compressive strength than concrete and about the same strength-to-weight ratio of steel in tension, according to Darrel DeBoer, an architect practicing in Alameda, California, and Karl Bareis, cofounder of the International Bamboo Association (now the World Bamboo Organization), in the 2000 book

Alternative Construction:

Nearly all of the bamboo used in North America is grown in China, with small amounts coming from Vietnam and some poles for structural uses coming from South America. Most Asian cultures have a long history of using bamboo for food, building, and many other needs. Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) is known as mao zhu in China; moso is the Japanese name. It is the most widely cultivated species in China, with some plantations dating back hundreds of years. One fourth of the world’s population relies on bamboo for many of the objects used in daily life. Bamboo is used today for a wide variety of purposes unrelated to building; bamboo cutting boards are increasingly popular, and other bamboo products range from fabric to fencing, from paper to chopsticks.

Bamboo Flooring Benefits

• Strong: Bamboo is one of the strongest natural flooring materials, and is comparable to the strength and durability of hardwood, depending on how it is manufactured.
• Natural: This renewable resource is great to use for flooring when thinking about how it will impact the environment, but it’s also safe for you and your family.
• Design:Bamboo flooring is becoming more and more popular in today’s home design, as it fits well with some of the most popular trends and styles.

How Bamboo Flooring is Made?

Bamboo is an eco-friendly, highly renewable source of material. A bamboo floor is a type of flooring manufactured from the bamboo plant. The majority of today’s bamboo flooring products originate in China and other portions of Asia. Moso bamboo is the species most commonly used for flooring.

Solid Bamboo Flooring is manufactured in a complex process that begins by slicing the stalks of the plants into thin strips of a certain length. The outer skin is removed, and the strips are boiled in boric acid to remove any starches that may be present. The material is then laid out to dry.

The natural bamboo has a soft, light tan colour. It can be darkened using a process known as carbonization. This is where the raw material is steamed using a controlled blast of pressure and heat which causes its surface to take on a darker, richer hue.

The strips of bamboo are then coated in an adhesive resin, and are then pressed together either horizontally, with the flat strips laying atop one another, or vertically, with the strips stood on end and pressed together from either side. This presses the individual strips together into a solid and durable plank which is then planed and sanded and a lacquer finish is applied with a preceding coat of stain if needed.

With Engineered Bamboo Flooring the stalks are still sliced, treated, and adhered together as is done for solid bamboo flooring. However after this is complete, the solid planks are then sliced down into thin horizontal layers. These slices are then installed on a backing material such as plywood or fiberboard using heat, pressure, and adhesive.

Important aspect: The urea-formaldehyde adhesive used in the process of bonding together the bamboo fibres emits volatile organic compounds, known as VOC’s which can be harmful to the quality of the air in an interior space. The amount of adhesive used, and its toxic effects, will vary depending on the manufacturer of the material. In some cases the VOC’s emitted will be less than those found in manufactured carpeting. For this reason it is important to find a reputable flooring dealer that is trustworthy so that you can be sure that your bamboo was produced according to the highest environmental standards.

Look for GECA-certified,  CARB Phase II (set by California) or European standards recommend products to ensure you choose the safest, healthiest, most eco-friendly flooring for your home.

The safest brands voluntarily provide independent test results on their websites as a sign of good faith.  Most strand woven bamboo uses only phenolic formaldehyde, which doesn’t have the bad reputation of urea formaldehyde. Urea formaldehyde is used in most engineered and hardwood bamboo flooring, but only in trace amounts.

We provide and install the best quality Timber, Bamboo, Laminate and Floating Floors. Book a visit from Melbourne Top Flooring’s mobile showroom and choose your new floor.